$2 Million in grants to support skills-building, create job prospects and
foster entrepreneurship

Ontario Trillium Foundation Future Fund focuses on new approaches, new opportunities

TORONTO , Feb. 9 /CNW/ -

NEWS

The Ontario Trillium Foundation today announced $2 million in Future Fund grants to seven community projects. Organizations will use the funds to boost the skills and job prospects of a wide range of Ontarians - from displaced industrial workers and single moms in southern Ontario to women entrepreneurs in Thunder Bay and First Nation forestry technician trainees in Northern Ontario.

These latest Future Fund grants were made public at events in Toronto ( February 9 ) and Thunder Bay (February 5).

    
    In Toronto, four projects totaling $729,900 were awarded. The recipients
are:
    -  Access Community Capital Fund (http://accessccf.com/) - $125,500 over
       three years to develop chapters of Access Community Capital Fund in
       six Toronto neighbourhoods. Micro-loans will be extended to low-income
       individuals who are starting or running small businesses but unable to
       secure traditional bank financing.

    -  Social Investment Organization (http://www.socialinvestment.ca/) -
       $90,000 over 18 months to investigate and develop the early stages on
       an Ontario Community Venture Fund, an province-wide fund that would
       make it easier for private capital to be invested in not-for-profit
       social enterprise
(http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/User/Docs/PDFs/research/SocialEnterprise.pdf)
ventures.

    -  WoodGreen Community Services (http://www.woodgreen.org/index.html) -
       $484,400 over three years to replicate in Peel Region WoodGreen's
       successful Homeward Bound program, which helps homeless single mothers
       get on their feet through supportive housing, training, child care,
       job readiness, work internships and placements.

    -  Artscape Inc. (http://www.torontoartscape.on.ca/index.php) $30,000
       over one year to study the feasibility of establishing a
       multidisciplinary incubation centre. The centre would deliver
       specialized training and business support for creative sector
       enterprises.
    

Other Future Fund recipients are Waterloo's Lutherwood (http://www.lutherwood.ca/), the Ojibwe community of Pikangikum First Nation (http://www.whitefeatherforest.com/pikangikum_first_nation/introduction.php) north of Red Lake and PARO: Centre for Women's Enterprises (http://www.paro.ca/) in Thunder Bay.

QUOTES

"These seven organizations each have a deep understanding of the needs of their communities and the workers and entrepreneurs who live there," said Michael Chan , Minister of Tourism and Culture. "Their projects are innovative, collaborative and offer a focused approach to helping individuals participate fully in Ontario's economy."

"These grants are a vote of confidence in communities and local residents. They recognize that often-marginalized people and places are in fact remarkably resilient and enterprising," said OTF Chair Helen Burstyn. "The 2009 Future Fund grants to these seven organizations will help individuals and communities participate more fully in Ontario's shifting labour market and become more active contributors to our economy. By making them stronger, we make Ontario stronger."

    
    QUICK FACTS
    -  The 2009 Future Fund grants support two types of projects:

       -  Initiatives that build local or province-wide systems that support:

          -  New approaches to skill development
          -  Improved access to employment
          -  New economic opportunities, through social purpose enterprises
             or community economic development initiatives
          -  Increased access to financial capital for small scale
             entrepreneurs

       -  Initiatives that prepare communities to take action - the support
          needed to take a germ of an idea, explore it, then collaborate with
          others to address tangible economic opportunities that leaders can
          see within in their own organization, professional network, or
          community

    -  Today's announcement builds on a June 2009 Future Fund announcement in
       which six innovative projects and collaborations received $2 million
       in Ontario Trillium Foundation support. These projects focused on
       social enterprise and social financing, creating new partnerships with
       employers, and boosting skills training and business creation for
       Northern youth
    

ABOUT OTF

OTF established the Future Fund in 2007 as part of its commitment to invest in Ontario's future. In 2007 and 2008, the Future Fund targeted leadership in the environment sector. In 2009, the fund focused on innovative initiatives that create social and economic opportunities for Ontarians.

A leading grantmaker in Canada , the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities. www.trilliumfoundation.org

    
    MORE
    View a full list of Future Fund recipients
(http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/ff_grants_08_09.aspx)
    Read more about the grant recipients
(http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/ff_2010.aspx)
    Learn more about the Ontario Trillium Foundation
(http://www.trilliumfoundation.org/cms/en/index.aspx)
    Follow L. Robin Cardozo on Twitter (http://twitter.com/CEOatOTF)
    

Ce communiqué est disponible en français

For further information: Angela Kooij, Senior Communications Officer, Agente des communications, [phone], [email protected]